Face 2 Face With David Peck

François Girard and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film The Song of Names, history, remembrance, choices, mystery and discovery, film as music, the paradox of technology and musical, archeological digs.  Trailer Synopsis: Martin Simmonds (Tim Roth) has been haunted throughout his life by the mysterious disappearance of his “brother” and extraordinary best friend, a Polish Jewish virtuoso violinist, Dovidl Rapaport, who vanished shortly before the 1951 London debut concert that would have launched his brilliant career. Thirty-five years later, Martin discovers that Dovidl (Clive Owen) may still be alive, and sets out on an obsessive intercontinental search to find him and learn why he left. Shortly before World War II, Martin’s music publisher father, Gilbert (Stanley Townsend), invites young Dovidl Rapoport (Luke Doyle), a ten-year-old Jewish violin prodigy from Poland, to live in their London home. Gilbert’s intent is to help the boy achieve his musical potential and protect

Yaron Zilberman, Yehuda Nahari Halevi and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Incitement, the complicated history of the Middle East, justice, peace and racism, inclusion, war and the real cost of radicalization.  Trailer Synopsis: “This rigorous psychological thriller by American-Israeli director Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet) depicts the lead-up to the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin through the worldview of his assassin, Yigal Amir.In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, was assassinated by an ultranationalist, right-wing Zionist who opposed the leader's signing of the Oslo Accords. Rabin's murder is held to be a definitive — and infamous — moment in the struggling peace process with Palestinians and also in Israel's charged history. So much so that it has never been depicted in a feature film, until now. Israeli-American filmmaker Yaron Zilberman sets out, with a rigourous, exacting gaze, to expose — through the eyes of Ra

Robert Fisk and Yung Chang and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film This Is Not A Movie, fake news and journalism, our addiction to social media, complicity, a “dead language”, and something called, “apparent clarity.” Trailer Synopsis: For more than 40 years, journalist Robert Fisk has reported on some of the most violent and divisive conflicts in the world: Northern Ireland, the Balkans, and Syria. Yong Chang’s This Is Not a Movie captures Fisk in action—feet on the ground, notebook in hand, as he travels into landscapes devastated by war, interviewing both combatants and ordinary folk, ferreting out the facts and firing reports back home to reach an audience of millions.  As corporations devour independent media, and language becomes a weapon, another less obvious battle is taking place. In an ever-accelerating 24-hour news cycle, the process of translating raw experience into incisive and passionate dispatches requires the determination to see things first-hand and the t

Klaudia Reynicke Barbara Giordano and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Love Me Tender, anti-superheroes, mental health issues, agoraphobia, connecting with others and the sometime difficult journeys we all seem to take.  Trailer Synopsis: The daily life of a 32-year-old woman suffering from agoraphobia, SECONDA, suddenly changes when her mother dies and her father abandons her. Alone and unable to leave her home, she clings to the phone messages of a snarling bailiff who one day stops calling. Unable to end her life, she offers a deal to SANTO, a bottle picker: she will give him her house in exchange for her own murder. Santo runs away, leaving Seconda alone in her despair.  The only link she has left with the outside world is the repetitive and disconcerting visit of a little girl who attacks her from the outside, pushing her to the limit.  In order to feel protected, Seconda wears her blue suit and goes out, walking in the streets of her city in search of her free

August Diehl and Valerie Pachner and Face2Face host David Peck talk about Terence Malik’s new film A Hidden Life, true love, pacifism and evil, truth and justice, taking an ethical stance and standing up to power.  Trailer Synopsis: “..for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”George Eliot A Hidden Life is based on the true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian peasant farmer who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler during World War II, sacrificing everything, including his life, rather than to fight for the Nazis. When Franz is called up to basic training, a requirement for all Austrian men, he is away from his beloved wife and children for months. Eventually, when France surrenders and it seems the war might end soon, he is sent back home. His mother and sister-in-law R

Mahnaz Mohammadi, Farzad Pak and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Son/Mother, activism, family, choices and women’s rights, tradition, values and storytelling, patriarchy, empathy and how things do change bit by bit, over time.  Trailer Synopsis: Leila is a single working mom of two. The factory she works at faces a crisis and jobs are at stake. Kazem, the factory bus driver, proposes marriage to Leila, but she hesitates to accept his conditions. Kazem has a daughter the same age as her 12-year-old son, Amir, and since tradition frowns upon a young girl sharing a household with her step-brother, Kazem tells Leila not to bring her son until he marries his daughter off. After Leila is fired from her job, she makes the decision to stay with Kazem and leave Amir at a boarding school for deaf children, while she tries to manage his return. There, Amir is forced to pretend he’s deaf-and-dumb, and after a few months tries to run away to search for his mother. On the run, h

IGG Nabwana, VJ Emmie and Alan Ssali Hofmanis talk about their new film Crazy World, African storytelling, action films, traditions and taking chances and the super success of the Ugandan Wakaliwood. Trailer Synopsis: In the latest from Uganda’s gonzo action auteur IGG Nabwana, a gang of child-snatching mobsters make a fatal mistake when they kidnap the Waka Stars, a team of pint-sized kung-fu masters who soon turn their cunning wits and deadly skills upon their captors. For the past decade, IGG Nabwana and his crack team of fearless filmmakers and martial artists in the slums of Kampala, Uganda, have steadily produced dozens of exhilarating gonzo action films as part of an inspiring creative movement known as Wakaliwood. With their meagre resources buoyed by an exuberant ingenuity, these self-consciously scrappy epics chronicle domestic scandals and adversities ripped straight from the local headlines with brash exploitation-filmmaking gusto. Conceived by Nabwana as a pre-emptiv

Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film And We Go Green, the environment, Climate Change, eco-capitalists, Electric Cars, Formula E and social innovation.  Trailer Synopsis: Formula E, the groundbreaking electric car racing series, has grown from upstart championship to the world's fastest growing sport in 4 short years. Through its pulsating and unpredictable racing spectacle featuring the most skillful drivers and most advanced car manufacturers, Formula E is exciting millions about the potential of electric performance in order to combat climate change and air pollution in our cities. With unprecedented access, And We Go Green is the human story of the live wires, underdogs and visionaries who have made this sport such a success and are reinventing racing for the next generation of motorsport fans. Directed by Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, this highly cinematic documentary uses intimat

Jan Komasa and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his brilliant, engaging, thoughtful new film Corpus Christi, redemption and the power of communities to reconcile and restore, the Polish Bible Belt, shame, guilt and forgiveness and the ability to healing through our relationships with others.  Trailer “Komasa directs with an impressive rigor that fits the subject matter, and the incorporation of subtle ecclesiastical embellishments in the score adds to the imposing solemnity. The smoldering center of it all is Bielenia’s remarkable performance.”                                            The Hollywood ReporterSynopsis: Recently released from a youth detention facility, a young man hiding from his past poses as a priest in a small Polish town, where the healing he provide

Rebecca Snow and Steve Gamester and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Cheating Hitler: Surviving The Holocaust, survivors guilt, meaningful history and the power of memory, pivotal moments in personal stories and why we never should forget. Trailer You can watch the film here. Synopsis: Rose, Maxwell and Helen were 10, 9 and 7 years old when the Second World War began. Robbed of their childhood, they were old before they were young. They endured the terror of forced labour, killing squads and concentration camps. After the war, they discovered their families had been decimated, that their homes were reduced to rubble, and their possessions lost or stolen. Now, 75 years after the war ended, these three survivors are looking for answers to deeply personal questions they’ve carried with them their entire lives. Cheating Hitler is a modern-day investigation into lingering mysteries from the Holocaust. Three survivors and family members travel to Poland, Ukraine, and

John Walker and Aaron James and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Assholes: A Theory, the public good, economics and indifference, activism and authoritarianism, capitalism and greed, public spaces and shared prosperity.  Trailer You Can Buy the Book here. Synopsis:Ever get the feeling that assholes are taking over the world?Bad behaviour is as old as human history, something we all encounter at some point—whether on the playground, in the workplace or in public life. But the phenomenon seems to be amplified in an age of venomous social media and resurgent authoritarian politics.With rampant narcissism threatening to trash civilization as we know it, the time has come for Assholes: A Theory, an entertaining and oh-so-timely new doc from acclaimed director John Walker. Built around a lively conversation with philosopher Aaron James, author of the New York Times bestseller of the same name, Assholes: A Theory investigates the breeding grounds of contempo

Coky Giedroyc and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film How To Build a Girl, friendship, loyalty and family, discovery and how life unfolds in front of us in a real, messy and wonderful way and the uncertain personal journeys we all seem to take.  Synopsis: Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) is a sixteen-year-old, extrovert from the outskirts of Wolverhampton with raging hormones and gigantic dreams. Even though she loves her big, boisterous, dysfunctional family, Johanna knows with absolute certainty that there is something bigger and better for her out in the world. And when she finds it, only then will she start ‘being me’. But quite what ‘me’ is, hasn’t been invented yet. With her inimitable wit and bottomless imagination, writing is surely her ticket to a brand-new self. After a couple of false starts, Johanna wins a job at top music magazine, D&ME and reinvents herself as revered and feared music critic – Dolly Wilde, the enfant terrible. As she slaughters her way to grea

Shawney Cohen and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new Rat Park, addiction, mental health, context and environment, boredom and drug decriminalization and rats that meditate.  Trailer Watch on CRAVE TV and for more info on the film head here.   Synopsis: The secret to solving the world’s drug crisis lies in a forgotten psychology experiment involving rats and heroin. Thirty years later, RAT PARK shows how the experiment’s radical findings are more relevant than ever. Following three stories 10,000 miles apart, we witness why drug laws and addiction are not really about the drugs. They’re about the cages we live in. In Portugal, a ceramics artist struggles with an all-consuming heroin problem even in a society that unconditionally supports drug users On the other side of the world, a young grieving mother and a hardened photojournalist in the Philippines grapple with the extrajudicial killings of drug users. And in Palm Beach, an outlaw recovery worker fights for life-savi

Garin Hovannisian, Serj Tankian and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film I Am Not Alone, politics and protest, Armenia and the Velvet Revolution, citizen protests, activism, advocacy pessimism and hope. Trailer Synopsis: On Easter 2018, a man put on a backpack and went live on Facebook to announce that he was beginning a walk across Armenia. His mission: to inspire a velvet revolution — and topple the corrupt regime that enjoys absolute power in his post-soviet nation. With total access to all key players, I AM NOT ALONE tells the miraculous true story of what happens in the next 40 days.Garin Hovannisian’s gripping documentary deftly follows the efforts led by journalist, politician, and activist Nikol Pashinyan to prevent the election of the country’s president, Serzh Sargsyan, as the new prime minister — a move that would essentially put Sargsyan in control of Armenia for life, making him a de facto dictator.The movement begins hopelessly, with Nikol and just a handful of supporter

Lisa Fiorilli and Face2Face host David Peck talk about working in the cultural sector, diversity and inclusion, passion and people, statistics, and the perception and definition of art. Making It Work: WorkInCulture is a non-profit arts service organization that supports the people who work in the cultural sector in Ontario through life-long career development and entrepreneurial and business skills training. Specifically, WIC is recognized for its Job Board and for connecting employers to artists, creatives and cultural workers; though WorkInCulture is not just the Job Board. In partnership with sector leaders and funders, WorkInCulture develops and delivers diversified learning opportunities for artists, creative entrepreneurs and arts administrators from all creative disciplines and stages of their careers. WorkInCulture is committed to implementing inclusive programming through its Creative Boost and WorkSmarts workshops and webinars, eLearning modules, Creative Works Conference, mento

Andrea Hummel and Face2Face host David Peck talk about cultural diversity, political correctness, policy over practice, trauma and safe space, empathy and understanding and why being a hermit might not be a great idea. Improve for Peace is a group that helps organizations, communities and professionals actively resolve miscommunication. Participants re-script their past via experiential learning. They use guided improvisations to do in a workshop setting what they can’t always do in real life. We provide opportunities for participatory community reconciliation. We help heal the psychic wounds of people and groups historically in conflict. We don’t take sides. About our Guest: Andrea Hummel is trained in cultural anthropology with a Masters from American University (Washington, DC) and additional studies in refugee affairs and linguistics. In 1991 she founded a consulting firm specializing in cultural diversity and provided trainings, cultural needs assessments and human relations consulting.&nb

Laura MacNiven and Face2Face host David Peck talk about ADHD and hyperactivity, mental health stigma, neurotransmitters and relationship building, self-awareness, being free of judgment and the fullness of hope.  New Book: May We Have Your Attention Please? A Springboard Clinic Workbook for Living and Thriving with Adult ADHD.  About our Guest:  Laura MacNiven, M.Ed., is Director of Clinic Services at Springboard Clinic: a leading multidisciplinary clinic specializing in ADHD awareness and treatment in Canada. Focusing on health literacy and learning resources, she is the founder of the Finding yourSELF program that leads to long-term behaviour change for adults. As a professional who experiences attention issues herself, she is deeply passionate about sharing a message of hope—and effective tools to meet the challenge. She enjoys outdoor sports, writing and exploring the world through the eyes of her two children. Image Copyright: Laura MacNiven, M.Ed. Used with permission. F2F Music

Natasha Luckhardt and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film Town of Widows, human rights, public engagement and picket lines, trust in the system, workplace justice, and why evidence is rarely neutral. Trailer Watch here on CBC Docs.  Synopsis: Directed by Natasha Luckhardt and Rob Viscardis, Town of Widows is a documentary exposé of widows and workers in the “Electric City” of Peterborough, ON fighting for justice in a system stacked against them.  Peterborough, ON., was home to a GE plant for over a century. With 6000 employees at its peak in the 1960’s and 1970’s, GE threw Christmas parties for the community of workers and helped to start the town’s university. But over time, employees and their families noticed more and more GE workers dying from cancer.  Looking back, the warning signs and symptoms were there—the nosebleeds and headaches, the red patches on their skin, the coughs that wouldn’t go away—and workers had a hunch GE was making them sick.  In

Ian Toews and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new TV series Ageless Gardens, citizen science and the environment, hope, fertility, nature and art, eating locally and why you can always find energy in the soil.  Trailer Synopsis: Ageless Gardens is a visual celebration of gardens – and the gardeners behind them. Viewers have commented that even just watching the series is therapeutic and gives the viewer the same experience of tranquility and the natural rhythm of life as gardening itself does.  Each episode presents a portrait of a wide range of Canadians whose lives have been greatly enriched through the gardening experience: About the Director:  Ian Toews has been making films and television series since 1996. His works are primarily concerned with the natural environment.He is the producer, director, and DOP of 7 short films, more than 75 television episodes, and 7 full-length documentaries, including the Gemini Award winning series Landscape as Muse an

Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Freaks, permanent residency, science fiction with a conscience, perspective, fear and vision and how thematic elements in a story sneak up on you. Trailer Synopsis: A bold girl discovers a bizarre, threatening, and mysterious new world beyond her front door after she escapes her father's protective and paranoid control. About the Directors:Zach Lipovsky has been around film sets almost his entire life. He started working in the film industry as a child actor, when his producer mom decided to put him in front of the camera. In these early years, he starred in many Canadian films and television shows, and by high school was creating his own body of work. By- passing college, he joined a filmmaking cooperative and combined his acting and filmmaking experiences with his natural skills in vfx and post production, to create visually stunning yet emotionally engaging films.Zach co-produced and was Special Effect